[Reminder: This Wednesday, September 3rd - 7:00 pm.
Premiere of Caminos: The Immigrant's Trail, a 22-min. film showing the
factors that drive Mexican migrants to leave their families and risk their
lives to seek work in the U.S. This film features Mexican farmers who
were driven off their land by U.S. farm subsidies, NAFTA, and the
globalization of food trade. Eric Holt-Gimenez and David
Bacon will speak on the roots of Mexican migration in the context of
globalization. 7pm $7-$10 sliding scale (no one turned away). Film and
discussion. Contact: Paul Chin: pchin@lapena.org]

1. Marcos and Moises Address Caravan - On August 2,
in the Caracol of La Garrucha, Subcomandante
Marcos and Lt. Col. Moises made a public appearance for the first time
since Marcos announced last December that there would be no more public
appearances for a while because the EZLN was preparing for a war they were
sure was coming. Comandantes Masho and Ismael appeared with them. The occasion
was the visit of a brigade from the National and International Caravan of
Observation and Solidarity
with the Zapatista Communities. Marcos and Moises each addressed the brigade.
Marcos, assuming more or less the role of an educator to the group of mostly
first-time visitors, talked to them about the EZLN’s
beginnings in 1983 as a tiny guerrilla “foco” in the Chiapas jungle, and
how it evolved into an indigenous army. He also discussed the reasoning behind
the break with the institutional left in the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon
Jungle. Marcos introduced the 2 comandantes, Masho and Ismael, who
would accompany the brigade to the 2 communities (Galeana and San Alejandro)
accused by the Mexican army of growing marijuana. Lt. Col. Moises described
the process of constructing autonomy to the visitors. The brigade also visited
new communities constructed on recuperated land to learn about the history of
the fincas and how it was before the January 1, 1994 Zapatista Uprising. No
was mention was made about a date for resuming the 2nd Stage of the Other
Campaign.

2. Caravan of Observation and Solidarity -
Over 300 national and international
observers divided into brigades and visited Zapatista communities
during the first two weeks of August. They traveled to the Caracoles of
La Garrucha, Oventik, Morelia and La Realidad, as well as the Huitepec
Ecological Reserve, Cruzton and other Zapatista sites recently threatened by
provocations from the Army and police. They celebrated the 5th anniversary of
the Caracoles and the Good Government Juntas on August 8 and 9 and issued a
report verifying the militarization of Zapatista zones and the absence of
drugs in Zapatista communities.

On August 21, 11 prisoners arrested during the brutal police
repression of May 3-4, 2006 in San Salvador Atenco were sentenced for alleged
crimes arising out of the confrontation between protesters and police. Ignacio
del Valle, leader of the Peoples Front in Defense of Land (FPDT, its initials
in Spanish), was sentenced to 45 years in prison plus a monetary fine for
alleged “kidnapping.” He is already serving a sentence of 67 years and six
months in a maximum
security prison for a “kidnapping” which allegedly occurred which
allegedly occurred during an incident prior to the May 2006 confrontation. The
other 10 already in prison received sentences of 31 years, 10 months and 15
days in prison plus a fine. Many see these sentences as revenge by the
governor of the state of Mexico,
Enrique Pen~a Nieto. Lawyers for all eleven prisoners indicated that they will
appeal the sentences.

4. Another Montes Azules Eviction Imminent? - The ARIC UU-ID,
a campesino organization with members living in communities inside the Montes
Azules Biosphere Reserve, reported that state and federal officials arrived in
Rancheria Corozal by
helicopter on August 15. Fifty (50) members of the federal army and state
judicial police also arrived to accompany the officials, who measured occupied
surfaces and counted housing units while the soldiers and police assumed
attack positions (guns pointed). Next, officials told residents that they had
to accept “relocation” or indemnification. Officials also warned residents
that if they did not accept, they would be evicted by force. The campesino
organization, related to the PRD state government, said residents will not
leave voluntarily. The same threats of eviction were also made by government
officials in the village of El Suspiro.

5. Paramilitary Attacks on Zapatistas
in Chilon - On August 31, the Zapatista Good Government Junta in Morelia
issued a denunciation regarding a series of attacks by Opddic members on
Zapatistas of Kan akil community (Olga Isabel autonomous municipality),
official municipality of Chilon, in the northern zone of Chiapas.
Some may remember that Kan akil is where a Zapatista was murdered by
paramilitaries during the violent summer of 2002. Unfortunately, the Opddic
has gained control of the Chilon municipal council, thus giving the
paramilitaries impunity for their actions.

The Chiapas Support Committee is a grass roots all-volunteer human
rights organization in Oakland,
California. We work with indigenous and campesino organizations
in Mexico. We have an hermanamiento (partnership) with San Manuel
autonomous Zapatista municipality. In the Bay Area we provide public
information about Chiapas through public events, our newsletter (Chiapas
Update), our listserv and web site. We organize delegations to
Chiapas and also recruit and certify human
rights observers and volunteers. We participate in the Other
Campaign and the International Campaign. Our contact information is
below!